2017 Officially Selected Films
All the Winters I Haven’t Seen
All The WInters I Haven’t Seen // 17min // Animation // 2015 // Iran
Directors: Omid Koshnazar Cast: Stella Ulm, Max Jelbart, Rowan Kennett
In New York City, a woman in the first trimester of pregnancy discovers through a long series of tests that there is a high likelihood her child will be born with severe physical defects. It turns out that she had been exposed to chemical weapons.
Homeward Bound
Homeward Bound // 8min // 2016 // Australia
Director: Miles Gibson
Based on a true story, in October of 1917 a young soldier becomes trapped in the notoriously treacherous mud of the Battle of Passchendaele. As he attempts to escape his tragic fate, the young soldier relives moments from his short life in a vain attempt to reforge the choices that had bought him there.
Miro
Miro // 23min // Drama // 2016 // Australia
Directors: Victoria Wharfe McIntye
When Miro returns home at the end of World War II he finds his land taken, his people gone, his daughter stolen and his service record treated with contempt
Silence is the Accomplice
Screening of Silence is the Accomplice // Documentary // 2017 // Australia
Director: Lieutenant General Angus John Campbell
The stories of four very brave serving Army members dealings with family and domestic violence.
The film tells the stories of four very brave serving Army members with family and domestic violence.
That’s Mine
That’s Mine // 6:15min // Animation // 2015 // Iran
Director: Maryam Kashkoolinia
Left in the bush in a war long ago, a landmine awaits its victim with fatal patience. We see village life, workers in the fields, children playing games … all from the perspective of the landmine.
Worlds Apart
Worlds Apart // 17min // Sci fi // 2017 // Australia
Writer/Director: Timothy Wade
A World War Two English soldier wakes from a coma to find a mysterious old man sharing his hospital room.
The Belief
The Belief // 2min // Animation // 2016 // Iran
Director: Amir Vahedi
The enemy attacks the country and war begins. An invisible man puts on a pair of soldiers’ boots. The boots prepare to fight the enemy, but when they see fragments of other boots in the battlefield, they refuse to go forward.
After The War
After The War // 14min // Drama // 2017 // Russia
Director: Georgij Davidov
The story of two soldiers fighting on opposing sides. They are destined to come face to face and feel crime and remorse, despair and tears. They come to the realisation that the war is ruthless and senseless and decide to leave it together.
War Ball
War Ball // 1:40min // Animation // 2013 // Iran
Director: Saeed Madadi
A calm violin player, becomes a warrior, just because of a little ball hits him.
The Passer
The Passer // 11min // Drama // 2016 // Iran
Director: Pouria Pishvaei
Writer: Omid Shams
A squad of soldiers under enemy fire come to a dead end. With no way back, they need to make a tough decision to be released at the edge of death.
The After War
The After War // 11:39min // Drama // 2016 // USA
Director: Giorgio Litt
Cast: Nikki Deloach, Jentzen Ramirez, James Devoti
The wife of a mentally-ill veteran and her son scrape by in an abandoned RV park, but they can’t escape her worst fear: the return of her husband.
Her Unlikely Kin
Her Unlikely Kin // 15min // Drama // 2015 // USA
Director: Kenneth Raimondi
Sarah Rassi is running out of options. She needs a bone marrow transplant and her only match on the registry is troubled war veteran, Peyton Sinclair. Can Peyton overcome his own battles with PTSD to step up and save Sarah’s life?
Kookaburras
Kookaburras // 16min // Documentary // 2017 // Australia
Director: David Jenkins
This short follows the commissioning and making of a fused glass window, by Canberra glass artist Ruth Oliphant, to memorialise women who have been widowed by war. Four generations of Australian women speak about their experiences.
It Would Piss Me Off to Die So Young
It Would Piss Me Off to Die So Young // 16:17min // Animation // 2016 // Portugal
Writer/Director: Filipe Abranches
Several soldiers, hidden behind masks, march off to war. This impressively animated story takes us on a battlefield journey to inevitable catastrophe. It is the First World War and a Portuguese soldier, wearing a gas mask, hides from the abstract fog. As he inhales mustard gas, symbolic visions appear before him in a claustrophobic series of events.
And We Were Young
And We Were Young // 75min // Animation // 2015 // USA
Writer/Director: Andy Smetanka
A stop-motion, silhouette-animation oral history of American soldiers, ‘Doughboys,’ in the last months of the Great War. A brutal, hauntingly beautiful, and thoroughly original vision of America’s war, narrated entirely in the words of the ones who were there.
La Folle Histoire de Max et Léon
La Folle Histoire de Max et Léon // 98min // Comedy // 2016 // France & Belgium
Writer/Director: Jonathan Barré
Writers: Grégoire Ludig, David Marsais
Max and Léon’s adventures, two childhood friends idle and party-goer, who are trying to escape the Second World War.
Tango on the Balcony
Tango on the Balcony // 19min // Drama // 2016 // US & Cyprus
Writer/Director: Minos Papas
Johnny, an Iraq war veteran who wrestles with post traumatic stress and the transition to civilian life, is tormented by an incessant hyper vigilance and insomnia and the lingering questions of his past actions in combat.
Gloriana
Gloriana // 9min // Drama // 2015 // US
Director: Stefany Mathias
The US Army’s first female Ranger platoon leader is unfairly tried for a failed combat mission.
She Will Be Loved
She Will Be Loved // 30min // Drama // 2017 // USA
Writer/Director: Chadwick Pelletier
A female CIA Officer is on an overseas mission when her convoy is struck by an IED, and she is medevaced as the loan survivor.
The Sandbox
The Sandbox // 47min // Drama // 2016 // USA
Writer/Director: Jennifer Kramer
A young boy struggles to reconnect with his dad who returns from Iraq still haunted by his tour of duty.
The Darkest Hour
The Darkest Hour // 125min // Drama // 2017 // UK
Director: Joe Wright
Writer: Anthony McCarten
During the early days of World War II, the fate of Western Europe hangs on the newly-appointed British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who must decide whether to negotiate with Hitler or fight on against incredible odds.